Hi Mike

I think the reason for the snowflakes appearing to go upwards is that the flash exposes them with a very short burst of light just after the shutter opens. The shutter, at 1/40 second, stays open for a relatively long time, so as the snowflakes keep falling, they continue to be recorded and give the blurred effect. If you use second curtain slow synchronisation (probably referred to as Slow 2 on the E-300} you might be able to achieve the opposite effect, giving the appearance of the snowflakes falling downwards. This is because the shutter will open, start to record the scene, then the flash will fire just before the shutter closes.
Hope that's of some help, I think what I've said is about right, if not I'm sure someone will correct me!

Best Regards

Ray

Ray Page wrote:
> Hi Mike
>
> I think the reason for the snowflakes appearing to go upwards is that the flash exposes them
> with a very short burst of light just after the shutter opens. The shutter, at 1/40 second,
> stays open for a relatively long time, so as the snowflakes keep falling, they continue to
> be recorded and give the blurred effect. If you use second curtain slow synchronisation (probably
> referred to as Slow 2 on the E-300} you might be able to achieve the opposite effect, giving
> the appearance of the snowflakes falling downwards. This is because the shutter will open,
> start to record the scene, then the flash will fire just before the shutter closes.
> Hope that's of some help, I think what I've said is about right, if not I'm sure someone will
> correct me!
>
> Best Regards
>
> Ray
>
Hi Ray, Thanks for your comments. I realised that this was probably the explanation soon after posting the picture, and someone else also produced the same explanation. I probably have to wait till next year to try the Slow 2 option.
Best regards, Mike